China rips U.S. currency crackdown

China is blasting the United States for taking a step forward with legislation to crack down on countries with artificially low currencies.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry, Commerce Ministry and central bank all issued statements criticizing the bill that would, if passed, punish China and other countries that are considered as engaging in currency manipulation, The Associated Press reports.

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said the Senate’s decision on Monday to open debate on the bill “seriously violated WTO rules and seriously disturbed China-U.S. trade and economic relations.”

“The Chinese side appeals to the U.S. side to abandon protectionism and not to politicize trade and economic issues, so as to create a favorable environment for the development of China-U.S. economic and trade ties,” Ma said, insisting that the yuan has increased in value by 7 percent compared to the dollar since June 2010, and that exchanges rates are not responsible for the U.S.-China trade deficit.

Chinese Commerce Ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said China had taken steps to increase American imports, and that Beijing hopes the U.S. will make efforts in “substantially relaxing restrictions on exports to China.”

The Chinese central bank also issued a warning, saying if the bill becomes law, it “cannot resolve insufficient saving, the high trade deficit and the high unemployment rate in the U.S., and it may seriously affect the progress of China’s exchange rate reform and may lead to a trade war, which we do not want to see.”

The White House said on Monday that it is “still in the process of reviewing” the bill up for debate.

“We share the goal that it represents, which is to achieve further appreciation of China’s currency,” press secretary Jay Carney told reporters. “We’ve seen some appreciation since last summer, which has been useful and good, but not enough. The fact is that the currency remains substantially undervalued, and that has an economic impact and we need to see continued progress.”